Practice using the COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE forms, look at examples from a talk about what makes people happy, and then see how much you understood by taking a short quiz.

What makes us happy?

Some people think that having more money, a bigger house, or their dream job will make them happy, while others aren’t sure what the secret to happiness is. Robert Waldinger may have the answer. He is the director of a Harvard study that followed several hundred men, and later their wives, over a period of eighty years to find out how satisfied or happy the participants were throughout their lives. Through this study, we learn the most important factor that predicts people’s happiness, health, and well-being. Let’s practice making comparisons, and then we will look at examples from his talk.

Before we look at examples from his talk about happiness, let’s start with the basics.

How do you make comparisons?

Making comparative and superlative adjectives

In adjectives with one syllable, or two syllables that end in “y”, add -er when comparing 2 items. Don’t forget to change the -y to -i. Add -est when comparing one person or thing to a group of items.

Adjectives with One Syllable	Comparative	Superlative
tall	taller	the tallest
fast	faster	the fastest

Adjectives with Two Syllables and ends in “-y”	Comparative	Superlative
happy	happier	the happiest
healthy	healthier	the healthiest

In most adjectives with two or more syllables, add more or less when comparing 2 items. Add the most or the least when comparing one person or thing to a group.

Adjectives with Two, three, or more syllables	Comparative	Superlative
comfortable	more comfortable less comfortable	the most comfortable the least comfortable
important	more important less important	the most important the least important

**Irregular Adjectives	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	the best
bad	worse	the worst

Let’s look at a few more examples…

Look at the images of these 2 activities that make people happy. Do you agree or disagree with the statements?

• The surfer is MORE ADVENTUROUS THAN the hiker.
• The hiker is in a MORE PEACEFUL place THAN the surfer.
• The ocean is LOUDER THAN the mountains.
• People are MORE RELAXED at the beach THAN in the mountains.
• People are THE HAPPIEST when they are outside in nature.
• People are THE MOST FULFILLED when they live life to the fullest.

Finally, look at how Robert Waldinger uses the comparative and superlative form in his talk about happiness.

The comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives are highlighted.

Here are the clues to what makes people happy:

1. “When we asked these same people [in the study], when they got to be in their 80s, to look back on their lives and to tell us what they were proudest of, almost everybody said something about their relationships.”
2. “It turned out that the people who were assigned to talk to strangers [on the subway] didn’t think they were going to like it, but they turned out to be much happier at the end of the task than the people who just rode the subway keeping to themselves.”

Then he gives us some advice:

1. “And finally, get more comfortable striking up casual conversations. That’s something we can learn to be more comfortable with, almost like exercising a muscle.” (**This sentence contains an implied comparative, meaning that you are learning to be more comfortable than you were before.)
2. “Establish some routines with the people who are the most important to you. A regular phone call or a coffee every Saturday with someone you really want to be sure you see regularly.”

After reading these sentences, what do you think? What makes people happy? How can we become happier?

What do you think?

1. Who are some of the people who are the most important to you? What makes those relationships special?
2. When you think about your life, what are some of the things that you are the proudest of? How did others help you accomplish these things?
3. Do you enjoy making conversation with strangers? Why or why not? Where could you practice this to get better at it than you were before?
4. Make comparisons about the following activities. Do you prefer to do these alone or with other people? Explain your answers. Can doing some of these with others increase your joy and well-being? Explain.

For example: Exercising with another person is more enjoyable than exercising alone.

Exercising with another person is easier than exercising alone because it motivates me to keep going.

studying alone	studying in a group
exercising alone	exercising with another person
watching a movie alone	watching a movie with others
working on an independent project	working on a group project
going out to eat alone	going out to eat with others

Got it? Now practice making comparisons in this short quiz.

Quiz Maker – powered by Riddle

Great job! Keep on improving those grammar skills!

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Improve your listening skills and hear the grammar used in context. Listen to the full TED talk about what makes people happy.

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Sources

Waldinger, Robert. (2023, January). The Secret to a Happy Life-Lessons from 8 Decades of Research [Video]. TED Conferences LLC. https://www.ted.com/speakers/robert_waldinger